Tractor power lift attachment



Aug. 23, 1949. w. c. JORDAN 2,479,841

TRACTOR POWER LIFT ATTACHMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 19, 1946 W//dm C/aL/fon Jordon Allg 23 194f9 w. c. JORDAN 2,479,841

TRACTOR POWER LIFT ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 19, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ff :sa

un l gmc/whom: Q l `S W//M/fz C/dL/fo/I Jordan Aug. 23, 1949. W, C, JORDAN 2,479,841

TRACTOR POWER LIFT ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 19, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 9 @MM/9x Patented Aug. 23, 1949 '1U NflTEeo cerisier:

' j2;479,s4`1 i .'ITRACFIOREPOWER LIFT ATTACHMENT -William Clayton J ordamglakely, Ga. rApplicaltion Januaryf` 19, 12146, ,Srer'alNo. 642,304

This invention relates'to an attachment which is adapted to be attached totractors having ua power lift and which isadaptablefor the transportation of peanut stacks, hay ricksffhay shocks, :and thelike.

In'tthe gathering of peanuts, theyfareuprooted and placed into small stacks for drying vafter which they have to be transported to a barn'or the `like where they' areprocessed` throughfapeanut. picker whichpicksithe `peanut `pods withthe nutstherein from the stalks; and it-has'heretoforebeen quitea proposition to`transport-these ricks or small stacks of peanut vines with the nuts, resulting in shaking many of the nuts loose by picking up thestacks with a--pitch fork, that is, a small .amount ata time, andloading it'onto a wagon, truck, and the like. Also, in gathering hay, many timesv it is placdintosmall-cocksfor shocks and, later, these are gathered up by'hand by sticking a pitch fork into the shocksandtaking-them piecemeal andv depositing them onto'a truck, wagon, and :the like. lThis old "method shakes many of the 'leaves Vfrom 'the l1-ay, thus lowering its quality.

It is an object of-thisinventi'on jtoprovide an apparatus adapted `to bev quickly attaczhed to and detached from a tractor having `a `power `lift and which apparatus `extends rearwardly from .the tractor so that the device can have iits'rearmost end lowered to the ground'and the 'tractor can be backed to cause the-prongs of the ,apparatus to pass beneath the stack V,to be transported La 'nd then the power lift canbe'actuatedito raisev'the rear end of the apparatus. to .the `desired height so -it will clear thev ground and any obstructions over which the tractor may pass. Thus, the stack can be transported'to the place where it is to be processed or v where it is to f'bedeposited forstorage by merely lowering the rack and moving the tractor forwardly to :cause the stock to be deposited onto the ground or anyother place where it is to be deposited, even in a barn in which `case itwould be depositedon the Vbarn floor.

It is another object of this invention toprovid'e a quickly attachable and-detachable device r`to the rear end of a tractor for lifting and transporting stacks, shocks, and ythe like, from the eld to a barnor other place-of'deposit and :depositing the same. By having the attachment on the rear end of the tractor, the vision of the driver is not obscured and, in case of a failure of the power lift mechanism, there would be no danger of an accident on account of the prongs dropping into the ground.

It is another object of this invention to provide freiem.' (o1. ,21e-+131) means `projecting :rearwardly from a tractor and connected td-thehydraulic lift means of the tractor, "for raisingl andrlowering the rearv end of the means whichare pivoted to an intermediate portion ofthe-tractor, whereby the rear end of the means mayfbe lowered and the tractor backed to projectthe means underneath Va stack ofhay andlike; `and thellip-t -meanscanfthen be ,operated'to raisethe -stack off the ground and,in suhpos'ition, the stack -can'be-carried to any desired point lwhere the means :can be lowered onto the ground :and lthe tractor advanced 'to withdraw the means from beneath the stack. This gives the important advantage of theA weight ofthe stacld being carriedby thelarge rear wheels of rthe tractor, with a lesslikelihood of marring up; whereas, iftheweight of the stack were carriedby-the iront wheels'which are smal1er,`the likelihood of this additional weight causing marring up of ,the small f rontwheels is apparent.

Some of the-objects of the invention having been'st/ated,otherobjectswill appear as the description proceedswhen taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in vwhich-- Figurel is atopplan ofthe apparatus showing i-t attached to the rear end of a tractor;

Figure l2 is an elevational view `showing 'the tractor'aXleIin-section and `being taken along the lineZ-J-Z 'in-'Figure 1 v VLFig-11,1213 isa rear endelevation of the device showing itattached to the tractor;

" Figure #iris a vertical vsectional view taken along'thelinell-fd appearing in Figures 1 and 3; y'Referring more specifically to the drawings, the=numeral -|D `'indicates a rear axle housing of a'tractorlhaving a "driving axle VIl which drives the rear wheels'fl Z and I3. YThis axle housing has associated therewith a diierential housing I'4 which has associated ztherewith a pair of hydraulicallyoperatedlift armsl and i6. A suitable lever "Il 'is provided -Vfor Acontrolling operation of the l'iydrauljc `lift'arms I5 `and-lli. The tractor also has 'a steering wheel I8 and a conventional hood portion I9 covering :the engine, not shown. The tractor also has suitable side `bars 2D which are supported by the portion 2l which is integral with the differential housing M.

-It iswitht'his conventional mechanism that I propose to use an improved device for lifting and transporting small stacks of hay, peanut vines, and the like. To the side frame members 20 of the tractor I secure on each side thereof braces 22 and 23, to which, by means of suit/able U-bolts 24, I secure a transversely disposed pipe or rod 25. By means of other suitable U-bolts 26 and 21 I pivotally secure the front ends of side bars 28 and 29. These side bars 28 and 29 extend rearwardly beneath the axle housing of the tractor and to a point remote from the rear end of the tractor and are sharpened almost to a point at their extreme rear ends. Intermediate the ends of the side bars 28 and 29 I mount a cross member 39, and to the lower surface of this cross member 39 I secure other prongs or tines 3| or 32. These, with the side bars 28 and 29, provide four hay-lifting prongs, and I desire it to be understood that this number may be varied to suit different conditions.

To the top surface of side bars 28 and 29 I also secure a cross bar and the upper surfaces of side bars 28 and 29 as well as intermediate'Vvv bars 3| and 32 are secured to the lowerv surface;

of bar 35 as well as to the lower surface of bar vegetation adapted to be associated with a tractor having hydraulic lift arms and an elongated frame with a rear axle housing at the rear end of the frame, said frame having a cross piece secured thereto a substantial distance in front of the rear axle and disposed in a horizontal plane extending below the rear axle housing, a pair of side bars having their front ends pivotally secured to the cross bar and extending rearwardly beneaththe axle housing and to a substantial distance beyondthe rear side of the axle housing, a pair of angle bars transversely disposed secured to the side bars in spaced relation to each other and spanning the distance therebetween, a plurality of angle bars having their front ends secured t0 the lower side of said pair of angle -ybars and extendingfrearwardly in parallel rela- 30. To the proximate or inner surfacesfof side bars 28 and 29 I secure uprising bars 3l and 38 which bars have cross bars All and 4| secured thereto and span the distance therebetween. Alsoa top cross bar i3 is secured between the uprights 31 and 38. To the upright bars 31 and 38 I secure by means of brackets and i6 a U- shaped pipe 4l! which has its central portion fitting into the channel bar lll as is clearly shown inthe drawings. This prevents downward movement of thefree ends of the U-shaped bar 4'! and yet may permit swinging upward movement of `this'bar in case it strikes an object such as a stack of hay which may require that the rear ends of the U-shaped bar 41 move upwardly slightly. v

j On the-top of' the cross-bars 30 I'mount suitable 1ugs^59 andEI and 52 and 53 between which pairs oflugs are pivotally secured links 54 and 55 and these links 54 and 55 have a plurality of holes 56' therein which are adapted to be penetrated by a pair of bolts 5l and 58 which are also mounted in two of a pluralityof holes 59 disposed inlinks 68 and Gi whose upper ends are pivoted as at 62 and 53 in the free ends of lift levers l5 and I6.

It is thus seen that by the operation of the hydraulic lift levers l5 and I6 the free ends of the bars 28, 29, 3i, and 32 can be positioned, either as shown` in Figure 2 vor at any intermediate point between the two sets of dotted lines shown in Figure 2, to pick-up a small stack of hay, peanut vines and the like and to raise it upwardly, say tothe upper dotted line position shown in Figure 2, where it can be transported to the pointof deposit without obscuring the vision of the driver of the tractor, and also without any danger oij' an unexpected lowering -of the rack by the lift mechanism causing any damage whatever because it is disposed at the rear end of the tractor and not at the front end of the tractor.

In vthe drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specic terms are employed, they are use-d inra generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes oi limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claim.

I claim:

A rack for lifting and transporting stacks of tion to the side bars and stopping substantially ush with the rear ends of the side bars, a pair of channel bars secured at their lower ends to the side bars and disposed between the pair of angle bars'and extending upwardly a substantial distance, a transverse channel bar secured to the front surfaces of the upright channel bars and being disposed at a higher elevation than the pa-irof angle bars, a -second transverse channel bar secured to the rear webs of the upright channel bars and extending between the two upright channelbarsVa pair of bearing members securedtothe front surfaces of the upright kchannel bars, a-substantially U-shaped member having a closed end resting beneath the upper angleof thesecond-named transverse channel ,bars and being bentflaterally and then rearwardly to pass through the bearing members secured to the front surfaces of the upright channel bars and extending rearwardly a substantial distance andv being disposed further apart than the side bars so as to pass on opposed sides of a stack of vegetation-penetrated by the side bars and intermediate bars, the front one of the pair of angle bars secured on top of the side bars havinga pair of llinks pivotally secured the-reto and extending upwardly and having their upper ends adapted to be secured to the hydraulic lift arms of the tractor, said upright channel bars having a third transverse channel bar secured to the front suriacesthereof and near the tops thereof andspanning the distance therebetween, all of said transverse channel bars serving to limit the movement of the stack of vegetation relative to therea'r axle of a tractor when a tractor is backed againsta stack'of vegetation.

WrLLIAM CLAYTON JORDAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references iile of this patent:`

UNITED STATES PATENTS are of record in the 

